Former Darien senator confirmed as state's first openly gay justice

Former State Senator Andrew McDonald was confirmed as an associate Supreme Court justice by a majority in both the House and Senate.

Governor Dan Malloy nominated McDonald as a candidate in December 2012. McDonald is Connecticut’s first openly gay justice.

The House of Representatives voted 125-20, and 30-3 in the Senate. All of Darien’s state legislators — Senators Bob Duff, of district 25, and Carlo Leone, of district 27, and Representatives Terrie Wood, district 141, and William Tong, district 147 — voted in favor of McDonald’s nomination.

He served as a senator for district 27 for eight years before moving on to become the governor’s legal counsel. Leone succeeded him.

“Andrew McDonald is a remarkable public servant who has excelled at every position he has served in,” Leone said in a press release. “As he moves on to the judiciary, the third branch of state government he will have joined, I expect he will continue that track record of excellent service on behalf of our state’s citizens. I served with Mr. McDonald in the state legislature, and I know him to be an honorable and reasonable man, always responsive to his constituents. I congratulate him on his new role.”